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Short Night of the Glass Dolls

Alexis Anne Mackenzie, SMFA03

This is one of several recent collages I’ve created that were inspired by titles of Italian “giallo” films. Such films, which grew out of a genre of pulp novels with yellow (giallo) covers, are lurid, spectacular productions. While the titles successfully convey this, the phrases used for them also have a surreal, lyrical quality that calls to mind the magic realism of Gabriel García Márquez.

Many giallo films have alternate titles to be used for their releases in various countries. In deciding what to include in my collages, I have drawn on these assorted titles, as well as on themes within the films themselves. Short
Night of the Glass Dolls is also known as Short
Night of the Butterfly, and while looking for a butterfly for my collage, I found the luna moth and fell in love with the color and shape of it. The rest of the composition grew from there. As for the eyes on the moth’s wings, they’re a reference to the film’s main character. Most of the film consists of his flashbacks as he lies paralyzed on a mortuary slab.